In July 1862, the Confederate spy known as Nancy Hart was confined on the courthouse grounds by Union Lieutenant Colonel William Starr of the 9th West Virginia Infantry when she tricked a guard into letting her examine his gun, shot him dead, and fled on a stolen horse. Historians debate this event and many aspects of her life, and her exploits, including her name, which may have been a pen name, are a mix of fact and fiction. It is known that she grew up in Roane County, where she learned to shoot and ride horses, and when the Civil War began she joined the local Confederate guerrilla group, the Moccasin Rangers. She gathered intelligence on enemy troop movements while peddling goods or tending officers in camps. Hart returned to Summerville on July 25, 1862, with Robert A. Bailey of the 22nd Virginia Infantry and hundreds of cavalrymen, and the Confederates stormed the town at dawn, burned buildings, and captured two companies of the 9th West Virginia, including Starr. Her undercover activities diminished after the raid, and in 1864 she married fellow Moccasin Ranger Joshua Douglas, then settled in West Virginia and raised two sons.